


Stiff

by PhoJoy



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Damian Wayne Has a Heart, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Depression, Dick Grayson is a Good Brother, Dick Grayson is a Ray of Sunshine, Good Sibling Cassandra Cain, Jason Todd Has a Heart, Jason is too, Other, Religious Conflict, Religious Discussion, Sickfic, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, dick grayson is tired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoJoy/pseuds/PhoJoy
Summary: An unfortunate argument leads to an unfortunate accident. Tim Drake's life was turned around when he was caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. A rusty bullet leads to an undetected case of tetanus which Tim and his family have to deal with in a financial situation and without their father. How will the family fare? Civilian AU, Bruce is dead and his will was all donated.OR I just wanted to make a good fanfic that ended up being really bad. I posted it it on a different site and moved here to have a fresh start :) /Hiatus/
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Kudos: 13





	1. Catalyst

CHAPTER ONE

Wild lights danced in front of his eyes, everything blurring because his brain was too slow to capture all that he saw in front of him. He knew that he laid on a cold, metal gurney and that his arms were cuffed to them on either side of the sheet of steel.  
He felt the rush of wind and his adrenaline pumping as he felt his body speeding around the building he was in. Where to? He didn’t know, didn’t care. His hair flew upward towards his scalp and plastered back onto his clammy, hot forehead when he stopped moving.  
He heard familiar voices and felt hands touching his body, cutting away his clothes and moving him onto a sheet of paper. He recognized the familiar feel of a surgery table and his body shuddered against the cold. He moved his head around trying to find a familiar face, but his head refused to move on its own.  
He gave up and let the people around him do whatever they wanted with him. He was naked and uncomfortable, he felt ashamed. He tried to curl up into a ball to show the least amount of skin as possible, but the hands held him down. The logic in his head told him to be suspicious, to run, but he's tired. He had been for a long, long time.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

Damian stared up at the stars above. He stood on top of the aparment’s rooftop, mindlessly staring out into the city. You are stupid, he thought to himself. You let your guard down, that's the reason for Drake becoming hospitalized. If it weren't for you, Drake would be here. He mentally kicked himself and sadly looked down Crime Alley. He remembered that there was a time where he would look upon this part of his kingdom with scorn. Now he was living in this dump. It's king had fallen and his family had become it's slaves. He had everything, now he has nothing, none of it made sense.  
His eyes followed to a small spot in front of a grocery store a couple of blocks down, which was now covered in yellow tape and a few cop cars stood stoically. He watched as the cops took aside bystanders and interviewed them for the suspect.  
He supposed that Jason and Dick were at the hospital right now, visiting Drake. Damian felt a slight pang of jealousy, making his heart twitch and his lip curl into a sneer. Disgusting. Feeling sorry for the nerd, he thought. Immediately, his heart twitched again and his face suddenly dropped. Imagine how disappointed Dick would be if he heard his thoughts. The eldest was already having a hard time supporting the five of them, he didn’t want to further bother Dick with his venomous thoughts.  
Damian glared at the moon, not letting his mind slip back to the events that had happened early today. He just couldn’t. That was a dark hole of madness from which he could never leap back from. He didn’t want to go back to that place. The place where he actually felt bad for his actions, made a mistake. Father, he thought to himself, what would you tell me to do if you were still here?  
“Bruce… proud… you.” A dark figure climbed up onto the roof from the fire escape ladder. Damian froze, but relaxed when he recognized the footsteps the figure left behind as it walked towards him. Her voice dripped of bittersweet lemon peels and the slight cock of her head made him feel relaxed.The moonlight illuminated her face and soon, he was staring upon his sweet, older sister’s face, smiling sadly at him.  
He felt a lump in his throat. “How… how would you know? He’s dead, he can’t speak,” Damian managed in a calm voice, "I can make an educated guess that he would much rather be at his work right now than dealing with me. Cass placed her hand on Damian’s shoulder.  
“Even… he… gone… still… same,” Cass spoke thoroughly, “Parents… unconditional… love.” Damian shook his head. He appreciated the comfort Cass attempted to give, but it didn’t make him feel any better.  
“Don't you know by now? Living in this... hell hole makes it apparent that there's no such thing as unconditional love. I just know it. People can try, but no one can fit Father's shoes."  
Cass rolled her eyes "Me, Dick, Tim and Jason."  
Damian scoffed "-tt- just spend a few more weeks with me and you'll consider otherwise."  
He softened the sneer on his face into a more relaxed grimace "I couldn’t protect the weakling today. I should- I should’ve done more.”  
This time, Cass squeezed his shoulder, “No… matter… love… proud… package deal.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
Cass hugged Damian tight. He would usually slap the person giving him the hug and run away, but he didn’t mind getting hugs from Cass, especially after all she had done for him. Damian hugged her back tight and unknowingly let a few tears slip out. He cursed himself for showing vulnerability, when Cass wiped his tears away.  
Cass always seemed to know what he was thinking. “It’s… okay… tears… strong… “.  
Damian glared , but in return, Cass smiled. “Inside… too… cold.” Damian nodded and led her down the fire escape.  
They climbed down from the twelfth floor to the seventh floor and slipped into the only opened window there was on that floor.  
The window led to Dick and Tim’s room, which was only a shade neater than Jason, Cass and Damian’s room. The bed was made, but clothes were strewn all over the floor. The textbooks were neatly stacked into their small bookshelves, but wrappers of candy and chips laid on the ground.  
“It’s like a hogsden, Drake and Grayson clearly can't handle themselves,” Damian remarked, wrinkling his nose. Cass laughed and shook her head.  
“Neater than ours,” she said. They helped pick up trash from the floor to make some room in case Tim was coming back from the hospital that night (which was improbable, though it was a possibility). Then, Cass jumped on the bed and patted the space next to her, gesturing to Damian to lay next to her.  
Reluctantly, Damian jumped on the bed with her. Cass immediately hugged him close to her body. Damian nearly growled but decided to reign his disgust for a couple of hours.  
“Tell me… what happened?”  
“I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“Can… help.”  
Damian thought about it. There was really no cons to reliving the event today, except that he would end up feeling guilty. Something Damian Wayne really hated feeling. But somehow, Cass’s eyes implored him to talk, drawing him to tell the truth.  
“This morning, Drake was so tired, he poured orange juice in my cereal. I mean, I get tired, but that’s just ridiculous!” Cass’s eyes gleamed in the dark, echoing a smile in her soft, doe eyes.  
“So I got in a fight with Drake and I was about to kick him in a place that would end his bloodline; when he just got up to leave. He said that he was going to buy some groceries and that he didn’t want to deal with my problems right now. Next thing I knew was that I heard open gunfire and I looked outside the window. I see Drake lying on the street with a couple of other bodies."  
Cass clucked sympathetically and stroked Damian's soft hair.  
"Why didn’t I do more? Why did I have to fight Drake that day?” Damian began to rant, tears threatening to pour over.  
They were silent for a good couple of minutes before Damian began to feel himself melt into Cass's side.  
“Sleep,” Cass replied, "Talk about... tomorrow". Damian wanted to protest, but he soon felt his eyes droop and he cried himself to sleep.


	2. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim comes home and all is well! Seemingly....

Chapter Two:

A week had passed since Tim was admitted into the hospital and Dick was helping arrange the house to accommodate the bullet wound victim. Dick came back with two grocery bags full of items that would prove to be useful in the future.  
He placed a body sponge in the shower to help Tim bathe when he was feeling too gross, a lot of waterproof dressings in the medical cabinet when Tim needed to change them and the medicine the surgeon had prescribed them.  
Dick sighed and looked around the empty apartment. Jason and Cass were at the hospital, escorting Tim home; while Damian was nowhere to be seen. Damian had hardly been home since the day Tim had got shot and Dick let it go, because he thought Damian needed some time to process this information.  
Beep, beep! Dick’s phone lit up and he squinted at the text message. Instantaneously, he smiled. Tim and the rest were downstairs.  
He rushed down the stairs to greet the three of them. Jason held Tim’s hospital bag in one hand and his car keys in the other, locking the car in the parking lot. Cass gently held Tim’s arm by holding onto his elbow.  
Dick’s smile broadened when he saw his little siblings and especially Tim, since it was the first time that week he saw him smiling. Tim’s arm was in a cast to keep his arm from moving too much, allowing the bullet wound in his shoulder to heal properly.  
He placed his arms around Tim’s shoulders and gave him a light hug. Tim leaned into his embrace and dropped his head onto Dick’s shoulders.  
“It’s good to have you back, bud,” Dick said, smiling at the younger teen.  
Tim grinned back, “It’s good not to have my shoulder hurt like hell anymore.” Dick laughed and rubbed Tim’s head.  
“I got your favorite food-”  
Tim’s eyes instantly lit up, “Hawaiian and donuts?”  
Jason instantly scoffed, “Pineapple does NOT belong on pizza.”  
“YES IT DOES,” Dick and Tim retorted, glaring at Jason. “How dare you,” Dick added. He caught Cass smirking behind her hand and Jason rolling his eyes.  
“Whatever, I’m stuck in a household full of weirdos. Heretics. Demons. Disgusting.”  
The four of them walked up to their apartment on the seventh floor, laughing, their yelling bouncing off the walls. Dick fumbled for his keys to open the door, when the door suddenly opened. He looked down to see Damian opening the door, his face completely void of any emotion.  
“There’s the midget,” Jason exclaimed, hauling the hospital bag onto the floor of their home. Dick walked Tim to the sofa, where Tim laid on the old, dusty couch and snuggled close to the pillow.  
“Plates… plates… where are the paper plates? I don’t feel like doing any of the dishes today,” Dick commented, racing around the small kitchen to prepare dinner. Dick looked through every single cupboard, only to find that the paper plates were on the counter the entire time. He mentally slapped himself across the face when he came to this realization.  
Dick left the kitchen to set up the table in the living room. Cass had brought out the leftover sodas that they drank from a few weeks ago, while Jason had brought out the three pies of pizza and two boxes of donuts (strawberry and chocolate, both with sprinkles. Just how Tim liked it) they had.  
Dick watched from the corner of his eye, Damian slinking back into his room. Something was not right, Damian would normally perch on a window sill, arms crossed and vehemently spitting out insults and curse words. It was too quiet in the apartment, Damian was too quiet.  
However, the thought was pushed out of his head when Jason called everyone to dinner. Dick grinned ear to ear, helping Tim out of the sofa and seating him at the head of the dinner table. Damian crawled back out from the shadows and proposed to sit the furthest away from Tim. His arms crossed and his refusal to look at Tim made me feel even more worried.  
“Who wants to pray for dinner?” Dick asked. Nobody spoke up, just glancing at each other with humorous eyes or pointing at each other through their expression. You go. No you go first. He sighed and rolled his eyes.  
“Fine, I’ll pray. I’m getting you back next time.” They all bowed their heads and closed their eyes. “Dear Lord, thank you for this beautiful weather. Thank you for giving Tim back to us… uh… Lord, Dear Jesus, You brilliant being, uh. We just pray that you would bless this meal… uh oh Heavenly Father… in Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.” They all said “amen” together and began to dig in.  
Jason smirked at Dick “You’re going to keep running out of synonyms for God if you keep praying like that.”  
Dick shook his head “Hey, at least I’m praying.” He bit into the pizza, it was not as good as NYC pizza, obviously, but was still the best thing he ate in a long while. He looked around the table secretly taking note of everyone.  
Jason took the liberty of wiping his greasy hand on Tim while the younger teen tried to smack the older man with his good arm. Cass appreciatively licked her fingers and smacked her lips after having a sip of the fizzy soda. However, Damian was hardly eating anything. He just glared at the pizza, but Dick could see past his facade. Damian’s back was slightly hunched and he wrinkled his glabela, betraying signs of grief, grouch and/or guilt (Dick called them his three g’s). Dick frowned, he would have to talk to Damian later.  
The night drew by insanely quickly and Tim, Jason and Cass had decided to retire into their respective rooms, Dick stopped Damian from going to bed with them.  
“Wait, Dami.” Damian stopped in his tracks and folded his arms.  
“What, Grayson?”  
Dick motioned Damian to sit on the couch with him and put his arm over Damian. Damian immediately smacked Dick on the hand, hard, and tried to run away. Before he could, the older man grabbed his hand and pulled the boy to him.  
“What’s wrong, kiddo?” Dick looked straight into Damian’s piercing blue eyes and attempted to put emotion and understanding into his own.  
“What’s wrong is that a 26 year old man is trying to prevent a 13 year old child from getting the sleep he deserves.”  
“Damian,” Dick spoke calmly, ignoring Damian’s snap “I know there’s something wrong, you’ve been avoiding the family and I ever since Tim got shot.”  
Damian looked uncomfortable in his own body, his body weight shifting from foot to foot and his eyes looking constantly at his bedroom door.  
“Hey, you know you can tell me anything right?”  
Damian looked at his feet and his lips curled in disgust as if he was about to chew down brussel sprouts (which he hated, but Alfred made him eat). “I have a feeling… that you may be disappointed in me.”  
The corner of Dick’s lip curled up, “Are you afraid that I’ll be disappointed in you?”  
Damian scoffed “Of course not, I don’t care about how you feel, Grayson. And I’m certainly not afraid of anything!”  
A chuckle left Dick’s lips “Sure thing, little D.”  
Damian rolled his eyes at the nickname, which Dick knew he hated. “Fine… I think I might’ve been the cause of Tim’s accident.”  
Dick frowned, earning the stiffening of Damian’s body. He brushed the boy’s arm to ensure him, “Don’t worry I’m not upset. Why do you think you were the cause of Tim’s accident?”  
“I had a fight with him that morning, which prompted him to leave breakfast early,” Damian stopped and thought. Then he quickly spoke “It’s all his fault, he tried to pour orange juice in my cereal.”  
Dick laughed and shook his head. Damian scowled at him and huffed. “It’s not funny, Richard.”  
“None of this was your fault.”  
“It’s all my fault, if I hadn’t argued with him, he would’ve stayed home longer. He wouldn’t have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.”  
Dick grabbed Damian’s hands which made the small teen look away in defiance. “That’s exactly it, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn’t your fault, I promise you.”  
Damian was quiet for a few minutes. So Dick just sat on the sofa while Damian stood up, letting Dick hold his hands. They were both in comfortable silence, when Damian piped up.  
“You were never this religious when Father was still around. I’ve been wondering, why now?”  
Dick shrugged and replied “I had a couple of books lying around about the Bible but I never really looked into them. But I guess, I’ve heard about so many people finding their lives through their religions, I wanted to give it a try. When Bruce was gone, I felt really lost. I didn’t know what to do, so I found guidance in the books I had. I guess I latched on to this religion cause of those books in my room and I think I found a place in it.”  
Damian was silent again. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with believing right now.”  
Dick gave Damian a hug. “It’s okay, if you don’t feel comfortable. Just know that I’ll be here for you no matter what and that I’ll help you guide you when you feel lost.”  
Dick could feel Damian breathing on his head, each exhale making his strands move slightly. Soon, he could feel Damian getting restless in his embrace, so Dick gave the boy one last tight squeeze before releasing him.  
“Dick, why does God allow bad things to happen?”  
Dick blinked, unexpecting this sudden, insightful question.  
“I mean, why did Tim have to be shot? Why not stop the shooter at all?”  
Dick sighed and leaned back into the couch. “I’m getting there Dami, I don’t know the answer yet, but I’m getting there. Maybe we can go to a church on Sunday and see if we can ask someone. Would you like that?” Damian just gave a slight shrug and went off to his room. Dick smiled and walked into his own bedroom, slipping underneath the covers with his sleeping, younger brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey! Two uploads in one day, am I speed writing or something? Nah, just tryna get all the chapters I didn't need to edit out to the public, hope you enjoyed it!


	3. First Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim's health seems to be deteriorating...

Chapter 3:

This was humiliating. It was the morning after, their little pizza party to celebrate little Timmy’s return home. Jason’s lip curled in jealousy. He never got a party when he came back from juvie.

All he remembered was Bruce’s disappointed look and the rest of the kids, too frightened to meet their brother who had been locked up in child prison for three years. Dick and Alfred were the only ones who greeted Jason successfully. Dick, giving Jason a clap on the back and a “Missed you, brother”; while Alfred gave Jason a most warm welcome and an offer of his favorite tea and crackers.

Jason shivered, he could still remember the frightened eyes little Tim, Cass and Damian had, watching him move about the mansion. They watched his every move, making sure he wouldn’t do anything, Jason-like. Except the psycho-midget.

Damian Wayne watched him with more reproach in his eyes than fear. Where did that kid even come from? Dang, Jason had only been gone for three years and Bruce had gotten himself two replacement children and a mistake. Was Bruce interested in starting a collection or something?

A muffled hiss of pain snapped Jason back to the present. He glanced down at his hand, accidently sponging Tim Drake’s bullet wound. He realized where he was. Right. Humiliating.

Jason was in the apartment’s tiny bathroom, in a tiny tub, sponging down a vertically challenged, naked 16 year old. “My bad,” Jason said in an unapologetic tone.

Tim, perhaps sensing Jason’s slight disgust and apprehension. “Trust me, this is probably more embarrassing for me than for you. I’m the one without clothes on here.”

Jason put his sponge down. “I don’ understand why Dick coudn' do it. He’s the responsible one,” he whined. Tim rolled his eyes at his older brother.

Just finish it, quickly,” Tim growled. Jason quickly and efficiently wiped off Tim and perhaps even more quickly (but less efficiently) in the more embarrassing parts. Tim shuddered as Jason wrapped a long, fluffy towel around his little brother.

Jason shuddered and left the bathroom, leaving the door open and Tim, yelling at Jason to close the door.

Jason walked over to the living room area, where Cass perched on the window sill, watching a ballet performance on their small, wrecked television screen. “Cass, where’s Dick?”

Cass’s eyes barely left the screen and she barely moved from her position to acknowledge Jason. “Work.”

Oh. That’s why he asked Jason to wash off Tim. Jason had been so used to seeing Dick this entire week, that he forgot that his older brother had an actual job. “Whatcha watchin', Cass?”

Cass crouched where she was still, completely immersed by the performance she was witnessing in front of her own eyes. “Ballet… re-... re-... reena…”. Her mouth twisted as she struggled with her own words.

Jason pitied her, “Reenactment.”

“Reenactment… Macbeth.”

Jason chuckled, “I thought makin' the play or sayin' Macbeth was bad luck.”

“No… only… saying… in.... performance.”

Jason just sat there, feeling stupid. Thankfully, Cass didn’t acknowledge his mistake, so they both sat there together peacefully. He didn’t know when the last time they sat together like this was. It was definitely before Bruce had passed, the days after his passing had been… hectic.

Unfortunately, their peace was broken as Tim frantically rushed into the living room, tripped over the rug and fell hard on his side. Jason and Cass rushed towards Tim and began checking him all over.

“Jeez, Replacement. Stop actin' like you a chicken without any brain cells.” Jason quickly assessed Tim’s landing. He didn’t land on his injured arm, which was good. He wasn’t hit hard on his head, thankfully, Tim’s control over his body beat inertia in that aspect.

Jason watched as Cass sighed of relief, allowing himself to breath too. If Cass couldn’t find anything, there wasn’t anything. But still, Tim was still moving about frantically. 

“Dammit Tim, what’s wrong?” Jason growled at his younger brother.

Tim scrunched his eyebrows in frustration and pointed to his face.

“What? Jus' say it! What’s wrong witchu?” Jason yelled. His tirade was soon cut off when Cass put her hand on his arm. Cass and her amazing ability to calm down the family.

“Lockjaw,” she said pointing to Tim’s mouth. It was true, Tim’s mouth was stuck in a weird position in which his teeth were clenched and out in the open.

Jason cursed under his breath and immediately went on his phone to search up solutions on fixing Tim’s lockjaw. Too impatient to scroll anymore on his phone, Jason immediately tried prying open Tim’s mouth. Tim cried out in pain and jerked his head away from Jason’s hands.

Jason stared at Tim in disbelief, he had never seen Tim like this. The Tim Drake he knew only showed his vulnerability to the Golden Boy or to the Father, the Tim Drake he knew wasn’t the small boy, crying his eyes out from pain.

Tim’s blue eyes seemingly got even bluer as tears rapidly fell out of his eyes. His jaw was spasming, a new addition to the lock jaw that wasn’t there until Jason tried fixing him his own way.

“Jason,” Cass said firmly, “no… force.” She left the room and came back with a heat pack and placed it on Tim’s jaw. “Relaxes… muscles…”.

Jason paced the living room back and forth, not able to hide his concerns for Tim’s newly developed side effects from his bullet surgery. He decided that the most sensible thing to do was to text the older brother from another mother some updates on their other bro.

No more than fifteen minutes later after he had sent the text, had Dick sent back paragraphs and paragraphs of text messages. The Golden Boy was asking for more updates and frantically asking Jason what they should do.

The most sensible thing was to go to the hospital and get him checked out, but there was a problem. Money. Dick barely got enough with an entry level job of $40,000 a year to handle all the kids AND to pay rent and bills. He had just finished paying off the hospital bills for Tim’s surgery, which was about 4 years of work and savings. They weren’t covered by insurance, making it extremely difficult to get Tim the medical attention he needed.

So what to do? Jason sat on a dining chair and put his arms on the table and rested his head on it. He could hear Tim’s whimpering and Cass’s whispers of comfort to him. He was glad that the two were getting along with each other so well, they would need it in order to get through this mess.

Then Jason did what he least expected. Shocking Tim and Cass as well, Jason walked over to the both of them and Jason placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder and squeezed. Tim watched with tears running down his face, wanting to hug Jason, but respecting his boundaries. Cass nodded in approval and smiled at Jason.

////////////

It was two hours later, Dick was back home and Damian came back from doing whatever he was doing. Dick had rushed passed the door without a passing glance at Jason or Cass and bolted towards his room, where they had set Tim to rest.

“Miss you too, Goldie,” Jason called out after Dick. There was only silence coming out from the room the eldest had disappeared into. Then, both Cass and Jason heard little tinkles of laughter coming out from that room, presumably from Tim, the only member in the family (other than Cass) who had such a fairy-like giggle.  


Damian strolled through the door only a few seconds later. He had a slight strut to his step and held his head up high. He paused for a moment seeing Cass and Jason, before curtly nodding at them and headed towards their room.

“Strange kid,” Jason murmured to Cass “I wonder what he’s been up to.”

Tim reappeared, leaning onto Dick heavily. His right arm was crossed over Dick's back and his hip was held in place by Dick's left arm. He had a hint of a smile that lit up the rest of his grim face, outshining the heavy, purple eye bags that decorated his face and the discoloration of his already gaunt white face. Dick carefully lowered Tim down onto the couch and shifted Tim so that he wouldn't put any pressure on his left arm.

Jason watched as Dick disappeared back into the bedroom and came out with a large fluffy blanket that had decided to take residence in his and Tim's bedroom. He caringly draped it over the Replacement and Jason watched on with envy.

Jason walked over to their bookshelf that was right next to their couch. It was covered from top to bottom with DVDs and cassette tapes of children's shows, movies and musicals that Bruce used to buy for them at least once every month whenever they had movie night. When they had moved out of their mansion and into their crappy new apartment, Tim had been desperate to take as many of these as he could in order to somehow "continue" the tradition. 

He sighed and looked through the shelf. Each of these DVDs and cassette tapes had been watched twice and a few, thrice. He hoped to fill another shelf with entertainment that none of them had ever watched. 

By the time Jason had picked out a movie, the entire family had seated themselves in front of the television. Even Damian was there with (excuse him if he was mistaken) a look of apprehension on his face. 

Jason held up the DVD box for the world to see. 

"Like whatcha see?" 

Tim shifted his head over to look at Jason more in the face.

"We love a scholar," he replied, grinning. 

Jason leaned forward towards the television and popped the DVD into the disc player. He took a step back and pressed "PLAY" on the title screen. Now everything was done, he could relax with his siblings and immerse himself into the forgotten world of wealth and power. The movie began to play and the narrator spoke with great transparency.

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice: 'always try to see the best in people,' he would say...As a consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgements..." 

////////

Damian hadn't realized that he had snuggled up against Drake during the movie. That was, until it was too late.

Damian was roused by the wet sound of smacking of lips and a soft groan. He scrunched his eyebrows, trying to drift his catnap, when a terrified little yelp jolted him back to the human world. 

His eyes shot open and he was immediately thrown from the couch and off the floor. His first instinct was to growl and attack whatever had thrown him off, when he realized he was about to start a skirmish with a temporarily crippled man.

Damian watched in horror as his fist gently relaxed itself and took a deep breath in. He waited for his heart beat to slow down until it sped back up when he noticed Tim.

Drake had completely arched his back from the couch and was covered in sweat. Parts of his hair clung to the sides of his face and other parts were curled up to the sky. Tears trickled down his face and his face was fixed in absolute agony. 

Damian quietly leaned over Drake to check what had caused him such intense pain, when he noticed that his left arm was completely trapped under his own body weight. In horror and quick decision, Damian looked around for his older siblings. Cain was nowhere to be seen and Grayson and Todd were completely knocked out on the floor. 

He grabbed the sides of Drake's shirt and gently shook him.

"Drake, Drake, awaken."

No response. 

Damian tried smacking the sides of his cheeks, yet again, no reaction. 

"DRAKE WAKE UP!" 

That seemed to have done the trick.

Drake bolted up, shuddering and shaking. Damian watched as the color quickly drained from Drake's face and he cried out in agony. He cradled his arm in his chest and tried to take deep slow breaths to calm himself, but he seemingly couldn't reduce the hiccups that escaped his chest.

Unfortunatly, the yelling match had also woken up Grayson and Todd.

Being quite the light sleeper from (Damian supposed) his days in the hood of Gotham, Todd immediately jumped out of his sleeping space and towered over Drake. The boy watched as Todd delicately removed Drake's arm from his chest and his bandages to check the extent of the damage. 

Grayson...Dick had been a little bit slower to wake up. He rolled over onto his stomach and squinted his bleary eyes into the newly darkened room.

"Whazzat...?" Dick mumbled under his breath.

He soon began to notice that everyone had begun crowding around Drake and Grayson was immediately summoned to his side.

Damian's eyes flitted over to Drake and watched as his crying had subsided and the agony that had overtaken his face had slipped away.

"I'm okay," Drake sniffed "Just a nightmare."

Damian scoffed. Weakling, that was what he was crying about?

Everyone turned to him. Drake had a scowl on his face, while Dick had a passive mask draped over his face. Grayson had to deal with this situation one too many times. Todd stepped forward to Damian menacingly.

"What's that?" Todd asked, dangerously calm "Whatcha say, hm?"

Oh. OH. Had he said that outloud?

Damian had to brush it off, couldn't let them know that he didn't mean it. Otherwise, it would feel too strange and Damian didn't like feeling strange.

"-tt- what an idiot. Only an idiot like him would think of sleeping on his side like that."

Guilt instantly flooded his very being when Drake turned away from him to stare at the wall that the couch was propped up against. Idiot, you IDIOT. Why did you think it was necessary for you to say that?

Damian watched as Dick placed a hand on Drake's cheek and gently cupped it. His free hand had begun scratching Drake's scalp and rubbing it. Another feeling hit Damian, jealousy. He sneered as he watched Grayson coddle Drake. He had begun to walk away from them, when he realized Todd was doing the work for him. Todd roughly grabbed him by the collar and dragged his sorry buttocks to the room where Todd, Cain and Damian slept together.

Todd turned angrily and burned holes into Damian's forehead. He leaned forward and whispered furiously "I been dealing with you, graciously treatin' you as one of my own, but you really pushin' it this time. You stoopin' so low as to hurt one of your own? That's not how it's done in this househol' midget."

"-tt-" Damian quickly turned away and walked into his room. 

He sighed and jumped on the bed side closest to the window so that he wouldn't have to sleep next to Todd tonight. Not that Todd wanted to anyways. He felt Cain rolling over to face Damian's back.

"Isn't easy for... you is it?"

Damian paused, he had been so angry with everyone else. Did he have room to be angry for Cain? He felt as if Cain was the only one treating him correctly.

"No, no it isn't."

Cain intertwined her hands with his and whispered "Takes...work. Hard work."

Damian sighed once more and flopped back onto the flowery bed sheets that smelled like Alfred. It was a comforting scent, but it made him feel more alone, without his father and his surrogate grandfather.

"I perceived it to be so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys didn't get the movie reference, it's the Great Gatsby ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hi! I'm not sure how frequently I'll be able to upload 'cause I'll be going to college soon and senior year is going to be pretty busy and stuff. I hope you don't mind and I hope you enjoy my uploads. Also if it shows up, ignore the coding, I was trying to see if this website would allow me to add extra stuff to the text since Idrk how to code :/


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